Australia used to have state-based emissions trading schemes, before they were ditched in favour of the now-abandoned national one. State premiers might say there's no way to resurrect them, but there is.

It might be nice if buying the right to emit greenhouse pollution could be made a bit simpler.
Oleandra/Shutterstock.comJuly 31, 2015

The term 'carbon tax' is a political poison in Australia, thanks to the previous carbon tax which was actually an emissions trading scheme. Yet ironically, many economists prefer a tax over an ETS anyway.

That $550 from the carbon tax repeal might be in your bank account, or it might have been gobbled up by exchange rates.
baranq/Shutterstock.comJuly 21, 2015

A year after the demise of the carbon tax, we might expect both coal and greenhouse emissions to have bounced back, at the expense of renewables like hydroelectricity. Sure enough, that's what happened.

Labor says it hasn't yet decided what climate policy to take to the next election, although this week's leak has bolstered the idea that it will involve carbon pricing – a subject with a long and vexed history for the party.

Christine Milne with her successor Richard Di Natale after stepping down as the Greens’ federal leader.
Mick Tsikas/AAPMay 6, 2015

Emissions fell by six times the rate in the five years before the carbon tax than they did under the carbon tax. – Environment minister Greg Hunt, The Guardian, January 17, 2015. Australia’s total greenhouse…

The release of the Renewable Energy Target review last week is yet another indication of the disproportionate influence of the fossil fuel industry and climate sceptics on governments in Australia. Many…

Tony Abbott may have planted a few trees, but he’s also sought to bury many of Australia’s environmental safeguards.
Britta Campion/AAPImageAugust 29, 2014

Before the 2013 election, Tony Abbott gave us fair warning that he would turn the clock back on the environment. As promised, his government has devoted itself to short-term economics and the sort of hardline…

The Coalition government has recently axed Australia’s carbon “tax”, leaving us with no carbon price. Alternatives include the government’s “Direct Action” plan, or Clive Palmer’s proposed emissions trading…

A tourist train from Sheringham to Holt steams past an offshore wind farm, one of many that have sprung up along the UK coast.
Gerry Balding/FlickrJuly 18, 2014

Australia’s carbon price has gone – but a UK review released this week shows that to lay the foundations for a low-carbon economy, pricing carbon is far from the whole story. Over recent months, as Australia’s…

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is hoping that the carbon tax repeal will play positively in the polls.
AAP/Lukas CochJuly 17, 2014

After the parliamentarians finally head off for the winter break, the government desperately needs the major win it had this week to flow through to the opinion polls – because it is struggling with head…

Finally, after multiple hurdles and hiccups, Tony Abbott has repealed the carbon tax. He has landed the pledge he took to two elections, delivered the policy reversal that has been most identified with…

The Abbott government was under considerable pressure to have the carbon tax repealed this week – and not just for political point scoring. Wholesale electricity providers had already priced in the repeal…

High-emission brown coal power generators including Hazelwood are set to be among the short-term winners from the carbon tax repeal.
AAP Image/David CroslingJuly 17, 2014

When the carbon tax was introduced, there was a lot of discussion about winners and losers. The Labor government limited the number of businesses that had to pay the tax, while it also gave carbon tax…

Even before it was born, the carbon price had plenty of friends – and lots of enemies.
ShutterstockJuly 17, 2014

The Carbon Pricing Mechanism, known to its friends as the carbon price and its critics as the carbon tax, passed away today in Canberra, aged two, after a long battle with slogans. While it won praise…

After more than a week of delays, the Senate has scrapped the carbon tax.
AAP Image/Lukas CochJuly 17, 2014

Carbon emissions in Australia’s national electricity market would have been 11 to 17 million tonnes higher if Australia had not introduced a carbon price. New research using the latest data indicates that…

Leader of the House Christopher Pyne and Environment Minister Greg Hunt when the carbon tax repeal passed through the lower house on Monday.
AAP Image/Alan PorrittJuly 15, 2014

The bill to repeal Australia’s “carbon tax” is poised to pass the Senate, potentially leaving Australia without a working price on carbon. In the short term, the repeal may provide some relief for businesses…

Third time lucky: after a deal between Clive Palmer (right) and his Senate PUPs with the government, the carbon tax has finally been repealed.
Alan Porritt/AAPJuly 14, 2014